Five Great Non-Soundtrack Songs from Empire Records

As many of the loyal fans of the cult classic film Empire Records certainly told you, yesterday was Rex Manning Day. The day when aging fictional heartthrob Rex Manning was scheduled for an in-store at the independent music store when everything went crazy. Typically, the day after someone watches Empire Records, as many of you surely did, they're usually faced with the shock that the film's official soundtrack is missing some of the great music from the movie's classic moments. Instead of just pondering what's up with today, today, we at the Weekly tracked down five songs to supplement your Empire Records playlist. Damn the man!

The Cruel Sea - "The Honeymoon is Over"Empire Records

is one of those movies with an absolute expertly selected soundtrack. So many perfect music cues that cover everything from Kenneth Anger-esqe pop music irony to genuine heartstring pulling sentiment. The opening credits' "The Honeymoon is Over" by The Cruel Sea not only sonically presents a solid '90s groove for the plot to build from, but the lyrics subtly foreshadow the conflict of the ever-changing music industry.

Dire Straits - "Romeo and Juliet"

A.J. coming to terms with his feelings on Corey captures that element of how young adult intertwine their real-life romance with their passion for music. Having worked at a particularly incestual record store, this happens more often than you think. I've also seen it firsthand result in five marriages and counting. Commonly misidentified as a Lou Reed song, the background to A.J.'s courting contemplation is Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet."

Gwar - "Saddam A-Go-Go"

On the flipside, Mark eating brownies and imagining himself as a new member of Gwar is the type of music fanatic fan-fiction that record store daydreams are made of. With the recent

reminding many how cool it's been sharing a planet with Gwar and the unique corner of satirical performance art shock rock spectrum they occupied, we thought it would be fitting to place the song from their cameo in the common 90s context of a "Beavis and Butthead" screening.

The The - "This Is the Day"

Probably the most immediately sought-after song not found on the soundtrack, The The's "This is the Day" in an inspirational, emotive ode to compartmentalizing nostalgia. For a movie that's about saving an independent record store, the sentiment is fitting. In a perfect world, this song would play immediately after every film's falling action before the credits.

You know we had to end with this, right? In the event you still know anybody who lament s the fly-by-night fad that is "the internet" you can slap this in their face. A member of the production company originally hired to do the "Say No More (Mon Amour)" video only seen in clips in the film decide to use YouTube and bless the world with the full-length video. What a time to be alive!